Bioweapon 7: Plague

The Black Death decimated half the population of Europe in the 14th century -- a horror that continues to
resonate through the world even today. Dubbed "the great dying," the mere prospect of a return to such
times is enough to put a population on edge. Today, some researchers speculate that the world's first
pandemic may have actually been a hemorrhagic fever, but the term "plague" continues to cling to another
long-standing suspect and current Category A biological weapon: the Yersinia pestis bacterium [source:
MacKenzie].
the horrors of plague
Pieter the Elder Brueghel/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
To understand the psychological impact of plague, you don't have to look much farther than this detail from
Pieter the Elder Brueghel's 1562 work "The Triumph of Death."

Plague exists in two main strains: bubonic and pneumonic. Bubonic plague typically spreads by bites from
infected fleas, but also can be transmitted from person to person through contact with infected bodily
fluids. This strain is named for the swollen glands, or buboes, around the groin, armpit and neck. This
swelling is accompanied by fever, chills, headache and exhaustion. Symptoms occur within two or three
days and typically last between one and six days. Unless treated within the first 24 hours of infection, 70
percent of those infected die [source: Chamberlain]. Pneumonic plague is less common and spreads through
the air by coughs, sneezes and face-to-face contact. Its symptoms include high fever, cough, bloody mucus
and difficulty breathing.
Plague Hoarders
Among the countries known or suspected to have pursued plague as a biological weapon are Canada,
Egypt, Germany, Japan, North Korea, Russia and the United States [source: NOVA].

Plague victims themselves -- both dead and alive -- have historically served as effective delivery vehicles
for this biological weapon. A 1940 plague epidemic occurred in China following a Japanese attack that
involved dropping sacks of infected fleas out of airplanes. Today, experts predict that plague would likely
be weaponized in the form of an aerosol, resulting in an outbreak of pneumonic plague. However, low-tech,
vermin-based attacks are still possible.

Several countries have explored the use of plague as a bioweapon and, as the disease still occurs naturally
throughout the world, copies of the bacterium are relatively easy to come by. With appropriate treatment,
plague's mortality rate can dip as low as 5 percent [source: BBC]. There is no vaccine.
A bioweapon doesn't have to boast a high mortality rate to be successful, though. Consider our next entry.
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